When Cynthia Nixon Praised Cuomo

From the Morning Memo:

If advocate and actress Cynthia Nixon runs for governor, her campaign will likely call into question Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s push for issues important to the Democratic Party’s liberal base, questioning whether he is progressive enough to lead New York.

But in 2011, Nixon praised Cuomo’s successful drive for the legalization of same-sex marriage, the passage of which remains one of his signature accomplishments since first taking office as governor.

“We need more politicians to get out there and lead as they did in New York — whether that means being a driving force like Gov. Andrew Cuomo or sticking your neck out like four GOP senators here,” Nixon wrote at the time.

In a separate statement sent Wednesday evening, former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said it was “ludicrous” to question Cuomo’s commitment to issues important to progressives.

“The only reason I was able to marry my wife and have my father walk me down the aisle was because of Governor Andrew Cuomo,” said Quinn, a Cuomo ally who is a vice chair of the state Democratic Committee. “The idea of anyone questioning his progressive credentials is just plain ludicrous.”

Nixon, an advocate for public education issues, has been exploring a potential Democratic primary challenge to the governor, receiving support from former campaign aides to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been locked in a feud with Cuomo over the last several years.

De Blasio and Cuomo on Wednesday exchanged testy remarks, with the governor suggesting the mayor is all talk and little action, and the mayor virtually welcoming a primary challenge for the governor.

Liberal advocates have long pushed Cuomo to do more on key issues and have expressed dismay at what they see as his willingness in the past to compromise with Republicans in the narrowly divided state Senate. They worry he has not done enough to bolster public schools at the expense of charter schools, victories like minimum wage increases have been diluted and that key voting reforms are yet to be enacted.

Cuomo in Albany has sought to straddle a line between Democrats in the Assembly and Senate Republicans, leading to limits on spending increases and cautious approaches on issues like medical marijuana while leaning heavily into efforts to reform the criminal justice system.

Still, Cuomo has often pointed to major victories during his time in office, insisting he has to work with the Legislature as it is, winning passage of bills for gun control, a minimum wage set to increase to $15 as well as a marriage bill that spurred President Obama to publicly affirm support for the issue, leading the Supreme Court to legalize it nationwide a few years later.

This entry was posted by Nick Reisman on March 8, 2018 at 5:23 am, and is filed under Andrew Cuomo. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.